I'd like to chime in about the recent trademark news concerning the Washington Redskins football team. If you are unaware of the recent controversy, the story begins at least as early as 1992, when Suzan Harjo and six other plaintiffs…
Read More
Scotiabank acquired ING Bank of Canada in 2012, and in November of 2013, applied for a trade-mark for a new name for the banking subsidiary, TANGERINE. The name is fresh and allows the continued use of the bright orange formerly…
Read More
Businesses need to plan ahead and consider future markets for their trademarks. The popular photo-sharing website PINTEREST.COM ("Pinterest") failed to secure trademark rights in Europe in November 2013 when the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market ("OHIM") determined that…
Read More
Next time you're clowning around, be sure not to imitate any other clowns, or you could be held liable! All kidding aside, most artistic performers, and (according to Wikipedia) particularly clowns, participate in an unspoken Code of Non-Infringement. Essentially this…
Read More
In both Canada and the US, trade-marks must be consistently used in their original state in order to maintain their validity. In Canada, the Trade-Marks Office ("TMO") only requires that a client certify that they are using the trade-mark in…
Read More
The Canadian Olympic Committee ("COC") has recently sent a cease and desist letter to The North Face, alleging that its clothing and outerwear is in violation of trade-mark law. The COC takes specific issue with the colours, symbols, and flags…
Read More
For those who have been following my posts on the legal battle between Pirate Joe's and Trader Joe's (links: Part 1 and Part 2) can interpolate that the owner of Pirate Joe's, Michael Hallatt, is an entrepreneur with a vision. …
Read More
In 1999, De Niro's Supper Club was a popular restaurant establishment in downtown Vancouver. At the time, the city was experiencing a large commercial growth in the film industry and often referred to as "Hollywood North". Unfortunately for the owners…
Read More
On October 28, 2013 the Canadian Parliament tabled legislation in Bill C-8 to update the Trade-marks Act. I say again, since, prior to the recent prorogation of Parliament, these similar changes were already tabled by the old Bill C-56. It…
Read More
For those of you who have been following the heated battle between US-based Trader Joe's and Canada-based Pirate Joe's (refer to my previous blog post here), a major decision was handed down in Washington state courts today. The US court…
Read More